Fifty-Five Reasons
by Lady Shadow Walker
Summary: With the end of the second Titan War, Percy is trying to figure out how to admit his feelings to Annabeth. Perhaps a list of reasons why he would be a good boyfriend will work? Assuming, of course, that he will actually give it to her . .


**A/N: Hey, guys, it's been a while since I have posted anything, and I am really, really, really sorry about that! I had this idea bouncing around in my head, and I just had to write it! I hope that you enjoy!**

**~Shadow**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or any other recognizable content, sadly.**

Percy frowned, green eyes conflicted, as he stared at the ceiling of his cabin. It was a while after the second defeat of the Titans. Rachel had just told him that he needed to admit his feelings to Annabeth, but he did not know how.

He sighed to himself before abruptly sitting straight up. He could make a list of reasons why he would be a good boyfriend for her! That would work.

. . . Except, of course, for the fact that he'd never give it to her.

Percy shrugged at his thoughts. Oh well, maybe he would man up while he wrote it. It was worth a try.

He dug around through his things before a pen mysteriously appeared beside him. it was silver and had little green-and-blue tinted seashells around the cap.

Percy frowned at it, but eventually picked it up to use. It had his father written all over it, so he Poseidon must want him to write the list. With the pen in his hand, he started to look for paper, but some white cardstock appeared beside him.

He blinked at it once, but grabbed it, preparing to write. He started with the title. He wrote out '_Reasons Why Annabeth Chase Should Date Me, Percy Jackson_'.

The pen had really cool ink. It changed between different shade of blue, green, and gray. It also actually moved. It did not mess the letters up, or move them onto a different part of the page, but it seemed to be moving similarly to the waves in the ocean.

Huh. Neat.

Percy tilted his head to the side, tapping the pen against his leg. Where to start? His eyes lit up with an idea.

_I saved Olympus (with help, but still)_

_I can ask dolphins to swim with you_

_I'm a son of one of the Big Three_

_I am the only son of Poseidon_

_I'm your best friend, so I know you better then I know myself_

_I'm Percy freaking Jackson_

_Our love would be forbidden, and all of that cheesy stuff_

_We know each other's parents already_

_You'd never have to worry about drowning_

_I'm an awesome kisser *wink, wink*_

_Aphrodite ships us (so does her cabin)_

_Our name (according to the Aphrodite girls) is Percabeth_

_I can scare away annoying people by singing_

_I have an awesome sword-pen_

_I'm good for amusement purposes_

_I know most of your embarrassing stories_

_I can take you on a romantic Pegasus ride_

_I can let you sleep with the fish (literally)_

_I've seen you at your worst and still like you_

_You can sneak up on me with your hat_

_I like to cuddle (no, I'm not kidding)_

_I'm nice_

_I'm funny (admit it)_

_You will be lost at sea just by looking in my eyes (I'll save you)_

_You totally like me_

_I'm your Seaweed Brain_

_We can take romantic walks under the ocean_

_We could have a ride on a Great White Shark_

_You could see the architecture of Atlantis_

_My father likes you_

_I like you in jeans and a t-shirt than any makeup or dresses_

_As a head councilor, I must be responsible (don't say a word about me being the only one in my cabin)_

_I would be willing to worship the ground that you walk on_

_I would go to Tartarus and back for you_

_Show me a spider, and it'll be gone in a heartbeat for you_

_The Olympians are betting on whether or not we're going to get together (gotta prove Hear wrong, yeah?)_

_You can outsmart me_

_I would stab myself if it would make you happy_

_You can beat me up . . ._

_I could get you a pet Kraken (who doesn't want that?)_

_You have a bunch of siblings to beat me up if I do something stupid_

_I'm an environmentalist (one of my best-friends is Grover, a satyr)_

_I can control water_

_I will listen to your equations and architect plans _

_I am mysterious like the sea . . . kinda_

_My hair is 'perfectly messy' as I have heard many a girl say_

_We have mutual (yes, I know that word) friends_

_I'm not as dim as you sometimes thinks_

_I'd never cheat on you (and not just because you'd kill me)_

_I've saved your life before_

_We look good together_

_I took the time to write this list_

_You know where my Achilles' Spot is_

_You make Aphrodite look ugly_

_I love you_

Percy looked over the list, seeing what he had come up with in an hour. He frowned darkly. That was pathetic. He could not even write a good list for the girl that he was in love with.

With a sad expression, he crumbled up the piece of paper and threw it in a random direction. He contemplated going to sleep, but he was too distracted now. He shrugged into a different pair of clothes and left his cabin.

His feet dragged his feet to the one place that reminded him of his father other than his cabin, and he stared down at the swirling water with conflicted eyes, that looked eerily similar to the water.

"I don't know what to do, Father," he mumbled to the waves that were gently licking the shore. When no answer came, Percy was not really surprised. His father had to build a new palace, not listen to teenagers with relationship problems.

Percy kept his head down, so he failed to notice the blond head peek into his cabin before entering it.

. . .

"Percy?" Annabeth asked as she stood in the doorway to his cabin. "Are you here?"

When no response came, she stepped inside to make sure that he was not just asleep. She saw no movement and was just about to go when she stepped onto a wadded up piece of . . . cardstock?

She curiously picked it up and, after a moment of guilty indecision, opened it up. She peered at it, reading the title of the paper-cardstock.

"_What in the name of Hades?!_" Annabeth whispered in shock, almost dropping the list – because it was a list – when she saw what it read. She started to deny that it was written by Percy, but it was his handwriting. He was also the only person in Poseidon's cabin.

With a slight gulp, and a nervous look around, she decided to read it.

As she read the list, she felt a mixture of emotions. Some of the lines had her snorting, some scoffing, and some ready to melt into a puddle because of the sheer cuteness . . . not that she would admit that to anyone.

She froze when she read the last line. He . . . he loved her? But – but he just thought of her as a friend. He did not like her like that no matter how much she wished he did. Woah, she did not just think that!

Yet . . . the evidence was literally in her hand. Percy Seaweed-Brain Jackson loved her. She knew it probably shouldn't make her feel warm inside but it did.

Percy Jackson, heartthrob of the camp, loved her?

Wait! Heartthrob?!

No, no, no. She did not like her friend that way. Nope, nope, nope.

Deciding to put it firmly out of her brain, she sat the list down and scrambled from the cabin, determined to forget all about what she had found. She would ignore it.

Realizing that it was time for dinner, she went to the pavilion and sat at the Athena table. She ate her food silently after giving an offering for her mother, and she did not look around for Percy even once!

. . . Okay, so she did. So what? It didn't mean anything!

She was just getting ready to go back to her cabin when she froze in realization. It was Percy's sixteenth birthday, and here she was avoiding him because she couldn't admit her feelings!

. . . Er, because she had found a list and did not want to have to turn Percy down. Yeah, that was it.

Feeling ridiculously guilty, Annabeth got a slice of blue cake and walked around camp until she found him, sitting at the canoe lake. She worked up her nerve, and walked over to him.

"Happy birthday, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, brushing aside her uneasiness.

"What?" Percy ineloquently asked.

Annabeth frowned. "Your birthday _is_ August 18th, right?"

Realization lit up his eyes. "Oh, yeah."

Annabeth shook her head at him. "Here you go, birthday boy."

Percy took the cake from her, and started to stare at the water again. "Thank you."

Annabeth nodded, turning her gaze to follow his. She tried to ignore the way her heart was pounding as she thought about that stupid list, or the way that she wanted to lean over and kiss him. Bad Annabeth! "You're welcome."

It was silent for some time before Percy slowly started to speak. "I have something that I need to tell you, Annabeth."

Annabeth gulped. She had to tell him what she had found. It was now or never. There was no more denying her feelings when he was sitting so agonizingly close to her. "Actually, I really need to tell you something, too."

Percy said nothing for a minute. "You first."

Annabeth breathed in a shaky breath before her words started spewing out, going at a ridiculous speed. "I tried to find you earlier, so I went to your cabin, but you weren't there, so I went inside and found this crumbled up ball, and read it because I let my curiosity get the best of me, and I'm so sorry that I read it, and I got so conflicted because I wasn't sure how I felt for you, but then I realized that I loved you, and now I feel really guilty for reading something that you obviously had no intention to give to me, and –"

She was cut off to a soft pressure against her lips. She looked up in shock to see Percy's closed eyelids, and her eyes slid shut of their own accord. She responded to his persistent kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck as he pulled her closer.

Officially the best way to tell someone to shut up!

"About time, too!" someone said from behind us, and before I knew what was happening, we were both lifted up into the air by excited campers.

"Can't we have some privacy?!" she exclaimed, but she was laughing.

. . .

Percy heard Annabeth laugh at their predicament, and he could not help but start chuckling. Before anything else could happen, he manipulated the gentle waves in the canoe lake to come up, and pry him and Annabeth from the campers' ecstatic grips.

They sunk to the bottom of the lake with an air bubble around them. They both knew that their friend would probably be waiting for them, but when one of them was a son of Poseidon, they didn't exactly have to go up for air.

There, at the bottom of that lake, Percy decided, was the best underwater kiss of all time.

Unknown to him, Annabeth echoed his thoughts almost exactly.


End file.
